BA changed flight times

bobblebob

Im going away in June and the original flights were for 5pm from Heathrow. As i live up North i booked a hotel in central London the night before, and booked an advanced ticket on the Heathrow Express for the following day to get me to the airport that afternoon

I received an email yesterday to say BA had changed my flight times to 7am the same day. This now means i cant stay in central London the night before as no way to get to Heathrow for 4am to catch the flight. So ive got to book a new hotel at the airport for the night before

Both the Heathrow Express and central London hotel were advanced bookings and non-refundable so ive lost money on them. Is there any way i can claim on travel insurance for this?

Westin

You don’t mention the routing. Is there another BA flight at a time that suits you better?  If so, call BA and ask for that one instead.

Booking non-refundable rail and hotels was always a gamble and risk.  Flight schedules can and do change.  I probably would not have booked your secondary travel elements quite so early, or I would have looked for flexible rate options.

I can’t see travel insurance paying out but certainly look at your policy for cover.

Might be worth politely calling the hotel / rail operator to ask nicely if they can change your reservation date or offering a credit for a future stay (hotel).

bobblebob

Only 1 flight a day so not possible to change

I booked early as i would require a hotel in London on a Friday, which i would imagine sells out quickly and probably put the prices up very steeply. But thanks will give them a call

youth_leader

Sorry bobblebob.  I've just booked NCL -LHR for 2 October, the day before my holiday, and I've just had it cancelled and had to rebook an hour later.  I had to go BA too because I want the 23kgs.  Not sure how far north you are, it is worth looking at Teeside? 

Alan_Bowen

There are no flights from Teesside to Heathrow. You don't really need to be at the airport at 4am, indeed I have never seen check-in in Terminal 5 open before 5am for bags, you can, of course, check in online the day before. The rail ticket is valid for any train on the day and the first train is not until 0510 arriving at 0532 but there is an Elizabeth Line train from Paddington at 0442 arriving at Terminal 5 at 0514 which should be ample time. Hopefully, you got one of the £5 dance tickets so even if you have to pay for the alternative service, the loss is not too significant!

Emmia

Also, for future travel Heathrow Express is really not worth it these days, the Elizabeth Line is only slightly slower and is much cheaper (and you can do.a walk up)

lr1277

When you say one flight a day, have you looked at other airlines flying to that destination with a similar departure time to your original departure time? If there are other flights, BA may rebook you on that airline. No experience of this, but I think I have read this on other flyer type forums.

Also for very early departures. I am sure there is a facility to check your baggage in the night before, if convenient. If you can get that organised, you can travel hand baggage only on the day of the flight.Again, no experience of this except what I have read on other websites.

onashoestring

lr1277 said:

When you say one flight a day, have you looked at other airlines flying to that destination with a similar departure time to your original departure time? If there are other flights, BA may rebook you on that airline. No experience of this, but I think I have read this on other flyer type forums.

As the flight time change is less than 12 hours difference BA are not required to book you with another airline .

 It’s not a cancellation of the flight which would require BA to book you another flight .

If there is a suitable alternative BA may be willing to change you to another BA flight as a goodwill gesture. 

CKhalvashi

Alan_Bowen said:

There are no flights from Teesside to Heathrow. You don't really need to be at the airport at 4am, indeed I have never seen check-in in Terminal 5 open before 5am for bags, you can, of course, check in online the day before. The rail ticket is valid for any train on the day and the first train is not until 0510 arriving at 0532 but there is an Elizabeth Line train from Paddington at 0442 arriving at Terminal 5 at 0514 which should be ample time. Hopefully, you got one of the £5 dance tickets so even if you have to pay for the alternative service, the loss is not too significant!

For 7am with a checked in bag, I'd be aiming for 4:30 at the latest. Note that I haven't checked in a bag for probably 10 years though and haven't been through T5 for several years too (I tend to use Star Alliance as they fly where I want to go in the most convenient manner when using traditional carriers (mainly LOT/Austrian), not OneWorld, though).

onashoestring said:

lr1277 said:

When you say one flight a day, have you looked at other airlines flying to that destination with a similar departure time to your original departure time? If there are other flights, BA may rebook you on that airline. No experience of this, but I think I have read this on other flyer type forums.

As the flight time change is less than 12 hours difference BA are not required to book you with another airline .

 It’s not a cancellation of the flight which would require BA to book you another flight .

If there is a suitable alternative BA may be willing to change you to another BA flight as a goodwill gesture. 

The issue with this if more than 2 weeks out is that BA could theoretically cancel the booking and offer a refund, which may not help OP if they need to be somewhere.

As above, more than 2 weeks out non-refundable bookings are always a risk.

bobblebob

Heathrow Express 90 days in advance is £5.50. Not sure you can get much cheaper even on the tube?

Alternative flights not an option. Im going trekking in Slovenia, so all the travellers meet at the airport for their onward transport. As everyone is arriving on the 7am flight, unless you arrive earlier then its not possible.

I could get the first Elizabeth train but thats assuming it turns up. Which is a big if these days